The Tourism Industry Council of New South Wales has welcomed the decision by Fair Work Australia to endorse a three percent a year pay rise over three years for Qantas licensed aircraft maintenance engineers.
“It is a good deal for our industry,” said the NSW Council’s general manager Andrew Jefferies.
“This deal provides certainty for the Australian travelling public, a decent pay rise for the engineers and offers a flexible arrangement for our national carrier to get its loss making International operations back into the black,” he added.
“Given the economic and structural challenges that our industry is currently facing, many workers within the tourism industry would be very happy to receive a guaranteed pay rise such as this one.
“With the long term economic outlook uncertain and the strength of the Australian dollar continuing to affect inbound and domestic tourism, an average $50 a week pay rise is at the upper end of outcomes for tourism industry employees,” Jefferies added.
The Fair Work agreement prohibits any further industrial action by Qantas licensed engineers before 2015.
The decision to endorse the agreement followed the grounding by Qantas of its aircraft last year with some forecasts expecting a hit of up to $194 million in costs.
